stopping breathing

**Swiss88** · 03-Jun-2010, 17:58

In this sentence,

I either stopped breathing or came close to stopping breathing.

"stopping breathing" sounds incorrect to my ears, but I cannot explain why.

Could anyone explain the grammar of this to me?

Thank you!

**stanislaw.masny** · 03-Jun-2010, 18:17

Originally Posted by Swiss88

In this sentence,

I either stopped breathing or came close to stopping breathing.

"stopping breathing" sounds incorrect to my ears, but I cannot explain why.

Could anyone explain the grammar of this to me?

Thank you!

Dear Swiss
I'm not a native speaker, but I would say
-'I either held/caught my breathing or came close to it'.
I'm not able to explain why.
S.M.